Hello, Is It Me You're Looking For?
by WishesintheNightSky
Summary: Kurt knew his love for Finn Hudson would never be requited, but as he stared into Jesse St. James' eyes for the very first time, it suddenly didn't feel all too painful anymore. St. Hummel. AU from Hell-O and on.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: Hello, Is It Me You're Looking For?**

**Author: WishesintheNightSky**

**Unbeta-ed.**

**Summary: Kurt knew his love for Finn Hudson would never be requited, but as he stared into Jesse St. James' eyes for the very first time, it suddenly didn't feel all too painful anymore. St. Hummel. AU from Hell-O and on. **

**Rating: T, for now, just to be safe. Rating may go up.**

**Warnings: A bit of OOCness, homophobia, slash, foul language, etc...I'll let you know if anything significant needs to be warned about every chapter. **

**A/N: I kinda got the idea for this after watching Hell-O for the first time since the episode had been aired, and realizing again that Jonathon Groff was gay in real life. So it kinda got me thinking. What if Jesse St. James was _Kurt's _love interest, instead of Rachel's? I honestly wish it had happened. Klaine probably still would've happened, but ya know, Kurt needs someone who'll chase after _him _for once, or someone who'll do the chasing _with _him. So yeah, that's what inspired the idea for this. It won't be _exactly _canon-compliant, as in, I'm not just gonna use the same lines as they did in the show (I will be using most of the same _songs_, however. Maybe the occasional line here and there when it's appropriate), but the general idea will still be the same.**

**P.S. Sorry if the characters are really out of character. I've never written actual Kurt POV, and I have never written Jesse St. James in anything besides his few lines in the first chapter of my Facebook story.**

_blah blah blah _indicates Kurt's thoughts.

_"blah blah blah" _indicates Jesse singing.

**"blah blah blah" **indicates Kurt singing.

**_"blah blah blah" _**indicates Kurt and Jesse singing together.

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><p><strong>Part I:<strong>

Pale, nimble fingers flew across the black and white keys, delicately pressing them down in a gentle manner, but with the confidence of someone who'd been playing the piano for many years. A tuneful melody, strangely a mix of classical music and of a light, upbeat tune that, oddly enough, contrasted enough with the former to balance the two out perfectly, creating relaxed, peaceful music that soothed one's soul.

Suddenly though, the notes turned despondent; melancholy. The fingers grew forceful, slamming down on the keys with passion. Teardrops fell onto the whites of the grand instrument, barely splashing the black, and faint sniffles came from the owner of the fingers that were still moving swiftly along the rows of black sharps and flats, and white notes with an driven ambition.

The fingers slowed, finishing off the piece with a back-to-back series of chords that finally faded away, echoing in the confines of the music library. There was a scattering of applause, and Kurt Elizabeth (well, Elijah, but he was working on legally changing it to Elizabeth in memory of his late mother) Hummel looked up in faint surprise. He hadn't noticed the small crowd that had gathered around him when he'd been, admittedly, putting on a spectacle, having been too lost in his own thoughts to even register the footsteps all stopping near him. He quickly wiped away the tear streaks on his cheeks, rubbing at his glasz eyes.

He flushed at the attention (he already got enough unwanted notice at McKinley from the Neanderthals, why bother trying to make himself become even _more _of a spectacle, when chances were that it would only end in vain?), before gingerly lifting up the instrumental book he had opened up and turned to a spontaneous number before his fingers had started to move almost instinctively, standing up and walking over to the shelves, placing it back into the empty space he remembered pulling it out from earlier. Right in between _The Hits of Lionel Richie, _and _The Wonders of Stevie Wonder. _Kurt rolled his eyes at the title of the latter.

Sighing as it flopped face down into the shelf, he massaged his temples tiredly, mind buzzing. He hadn't even glanced at the sheet music when he'd been playing, too caught up in his musings of the ever oblivious Finn Hudson.

Kurt knew that Finn would never return his romantic feelings, what with the obvious truth of the jock being straight as an arrow. But the tall boy hadn't done a single thing to dissuade Kurt's more than unsubtle affections, even going as far as to basically _encourage _it, what with his constant need to talk to Kurt for advice and simple conversation.

Hell, Finn had even said it sounded _cool _when Kurt had told him he had wanted to sing "_I Honestly Love You" _as a ballad to the quarterback. And if that hadn't made Kurt's feelings _very clear, _he had not one clue as to what would. And so, as a result, the tiny _little _part of Kurt's brain that was too naive for its own good, kept up with his blatant flirting and mooning over, not willing to give up entirely until he was told to.

Despite that glimpse of his naivety, Kurt still knew deep down that Finn could never feel even the slightest bit of non-platonic love, or even _like_ for him.

Finn Hudson wasn't gay.

Nor was he bi-sexual (which was something Kurt held a belief was really only just gay people who wanted to hold hands with the opposite sex in their school hallways, and feel _normal_). Which meant that Kurt had a small dilemma on his hands. After all, he had a bit of an excess of penis, and an extremely noticeable lack of a vagina in his nether regions.

Okay, so perhaps it wasn't really a _small _dilemma. A large one. A _gigantic _one, even.

But it wasn't as though it was his own fault that he ever fell head over heels for Finn. After all, the boy was the only one who ever stood up for him in front of a bully (not counting the girls who had come to his rescue in the past, to his displeasure), and he didn't mind getting close to Kurt. He didn't find their typical proximity an _invasion of personal space_, or an attempt to _convert him into a gay, _like the other boys with peas for brains had and _still did. _

Could anyone really blame him for developing some _(okay, maybe a lot) _feelings for the freakishly tall teen?

...

No, he didn't think so.

And it wasn't as though Kurt was delusional.

He knew all to well that Finn would never choose him over the likes of _Quinn Fabray, _or, as much he dreaded to think it, _Rachel Berry._

The porcelain-skinned teen grimaced visibly at the thought of her name, which had been, irritatingly enough, stamped with a gold star right next to it, a habit he'd gotten to imagining when it came to her, all because of the midget's obsession with them.

Rachel had been right, no matter how much he loathed to know it all too well. Even if Rachel was near the bottom of Finn's choices for a girlfriend (which, now, he supposed she was at the _top _of, considering their closeness ever since the New Directions won Sectionals), or second, or tenth, or _whatever other number, _she'd always be ahead of him. Simply because she was a _girl._

Kurt flinched, jumping back as a voice spoke against his ear, sounding amused.

"That was quite a show you put on just now."

Glasz eyes met a deep ocean blue, that sparkled with a glint of mischief, and Kurt suddenly felt as though he could _drown _in those eyes. Gaze trailing upward, he caught sight of light brown curls that had been tamed neatly, and Kurt just wanted to run his hands through them to see if they were as deliciously smooth as they definitely _looked. _He stared at the boy, which was, to put it tamely, _gorgeous, _though he seemed older than Kurt was (then again, that wasn't such a particularly difficult thing to accomplish).

The boy's lips -which were pouty, and perfect, and _unf...-_ moved, and Kurt suddenly realized that he was _talking, _and his ears suddenly snapped into attention, catching the last few words of the ocean-eyed male.

"-you look a little spaced out...anyways, where are my manners? My name is Jesse St. James," the gorgeous boy introduced himself, extending a hand with a devilish smirk flitting across his mouth.

Kurt inwardly shivered at the silky tone, which oozed with sexual appeal, and, _no, Kurt. Bad thoughts. You're in love with Finn, the guy who stood up for you, the guy who'll actually get close to you without a problem, _he mentally scolded himself.

_But this guy seems to have no qualms about touching you..._the other part of him that was _oh, so _enamored with the looks of this boy, and-wait. _Jesse St. James? _

Kurt's jaw dropped for a moment, before he regained his composure, and huffed indignantly. He was the competition! From **_Vocal Adrenaline_**! The _lead, _for goodness' sake. But not wanting to seem like a petulant child, Kurt outstretched his own hand.

"Kurt," he said coldly, eyeing the other male with a frosty glare. "Kurt Hummel."

If the rival show choir member was affected by his rudeness, he sure as hell didn't show it, which was giving Kurt a bubbling feeling of annoyance.

The curly-haired boy sent a dazzling smile-_no, Kurt! He's the **competition. **His smile is not dazzling. It can't be._- toward him, seeming to come even closer than he already was.

"I know," Jesse shrugged nonchalantly. "I saw you at your Sectionals. You guys are good," he complimented, which astounded Kurt to no end. "But definitely not as good as Vocal Adrenaline."

_And there it was. Of course. _Kurt wanted to punch the arrogant grin off of St. James' face, twitching at his over-inflated ego.

"Of course you'd think that, since you _are_ the lead," Kurt said with a disdainful scoff. "And what were you even doing at our Sectionals, anyways? What, were you spying on us? Worried?" he taunted, raising a brow questioningly.

Jesse only smirked in reply to Kurt's recognition of him, before speaking honestly to the other part of his small rant, which only shocked Kurt to his core once more. He was starting to think Jesse enjoyed defying Kurt's expectations of him. Which was basically a soulless, robotic automaton that lived and breathed show choir, and would go to no ends to win everything.

"Of course I was. Always need to check on the competition, and see if they stand a chance against us, of course," he winked, and Kurt felt blood flow to his cheeks. No one had ever flirted with him before (well, at least, Kurt _thought _Jesse was flirting. But maybe he was getting ahead of himself), and having someone like Jesse St. James be the first was making him quite dizzy.

"And I see you've decided that we're not so worthy?" Kurt asked, raising a defiant gaze to Jesse's eyes, though he was fighting the blush that threatened to take over.

"Not so much," Jesse admitted airily. "Maybe if they put you on lead, though, if your singing is anywhere near as good as your piano-playing."

Kurt was speechless. Had the lead singer of _Vocal Adrenaline, _who had won Nationals for _three_ _consecutive years, _just both _flirted obviously, _and praised him in a single sentence? He gulped heavily, before responding weakly.

"You've never heard me sing," he said lamely, knowing that his face was likely to be a crimson color by now, cursing his paleness. Judging by the way Jesse's smirk widened, Kurt knew that his cheeks must be significantly red at the moment.

"Well, how about you sing now? With me?" Jesse asked, taking Kurt's hand _(oh fuck, was that **electricity?**), _which felt warm all of a sudden, and leading him back to the piano, where a few people were still huddled around. They backed off as soon as they caught sight of the two, making room and creating a path toward the bench.

"W-what, right now?" Kurt stammered nervously, his palms beginning to sweat. "In front of all these people?" he questioned, glancing around as more feet stopped near them, turning into a little crowd.

Jesse set down _The Hits of Lionel Richie, _which Kurt hadn't even noticed him grab from the shelves, on the instrument, flipping it open to a very familiar song. Kurt's eyes widened as he recognized it, wondering why Jesse would want to sing a _love song_ with him, especially in front of an audience.

The Vocal Adrenaline member's eyes turned to him, and Jesse smiled a little smile, that Kurt would have almost interpreted as maybe _encouraging, _if this hadn't been the New Directions' _competition _that was sitting next to him right now.

"Why not? You've already done somewhat of a performance for them, why not do it again?" Jesse asked him, playing the intro to _Hello, _which, oddly enough, fit the lesson Mr. Schuester had given them for this week.

"W-well, I didn't know they were there before, but now I do," Kurt confessed, fidgeting slightly. "I'm kind of nervous." He left out the part where he was more concerned with the fact that this was the _enemy _he was about to sing with, not wanting to seem like a person whose life revolved around Glee Club.

Jesse stared off into an empty space nostalgically, sighing. "I remember when I used to be nervous," he said, before singing in a husky voice that sent sparks down Kurt's spine.

_"I've been alone with you inside my mind," _Jesse sang beautifully, looking between Kurt and the sheet music. The flamboyant teen would've joined in on playing the instrument, but his fingers felt too slippery, and he felt too dazed. _"And in my dreams I've kissed your lips...a thousand times," _Was it only his imagination, or did Jesse's eyes flicker toward his mouth during that line?

_"I sometimes see you pass outside my door...hello...is it me you're looking for?" _Kurt chewed on his lower lip as Jesse silently told him to sing along, before hesitantly joining in.

_"**I can see it in your eyes...I can see it in your smile, you're all I've ever wanted, and my arms are open wide..." **_they harmonized together perfectly, hitting the low notes easily as they gazed into each other's eyes.

_**"'Cause you know just what to say, and you know just what to do...and I want to tell you so much...I love you..."**_ Their voices blended in a way that might've been hard to imagine, creating a rich tone that sounded undeniably amazing. The audience was entranced, staring at the pair in awe, but Kurt didn't take any mind to their attention, not registering anything but Jesse, as cheesy as it sounded.

**"Oh yeah..."** Kurt vocalized as Jesse began the next verse, stare focused on Kurt, who found himself extremely flustered at the intense gaze.

_"I long to see the sunlight in your hair..." _He nodded at Kurt slightly to indicate that he should take the next line, and the sophomore obliged, his voice growing steadier with every lyric that left him.

**"And tell you time and time again, how much I care..."** Kurt concentrated on every beat, his emotions taking over the song.

**_"Sometimes I feel my heart will overflow. Hello...I've just got to let you know..." _**They sang in sync, rising up to meet every note. Kurt felt himself smile genuinely, caught up in the exhilaration of their duet. He had never sang together with someone else before, and the rush of doing so for the first time in front of an audience gave him chills. Glee Club didn't give him _nearly _as much of a chance to shine.

**_"'Cause I wonder where you are..." _**Kurt stopped to take a breath, before belting out Jesse's next line in an echo. _"And I wonder what _**(wonder what you do!)**_ you do, are you somewhere **feeling lonely, or is someone loving you? Tell me how to win your heart, for I haven't got a clue...let me start by saying..." **_Kurt hit the high notes with ease, not bothering to hold back like he had during the Defying Gravity diva-off. He could see that Jesse was impressed, even if only a bit, especially since it was rare for a boy to reach that high without going into falsetto, like Kurt was able to.

**_"I love...you..." _**the duo finished, voices trailing off in an eery echo. The crowd surrounding the two, who had all abandoned their reading/iPods in favor of listening to Kurt and Jesse, burst into applause, snapping Kurt out of his music(_definitely _not Jesse St. James)-induced trance.

Clearing his throat, the glasz-eyed boy avoided the other male's eyes. He didn't move when Jesse started to speak.

"Well, I am most definitely impressed," he stated. Kurt adamantly refused to meet his gaze. "But I can honestly tell you that your singing isn't as good as your piano-playing."

Kurt's head turned at that, visibly deflating, thinking it to be an insult. But Jesse met his eyes levelly.

"It's better." Kurt felt his lips twitch up into a tiny grin at the cliche remark, but he caught himself soon enough, coughing quietly and replying in a near-whisper.

"Well...there are a lot of things that might surprise you about me," he said haughtily, pulling up his typical bitchy facade.

To Kurt's own surprise, Jesse only smiled at him, tilting his head minutely.

"Really? I'd love to know...how about you tell me all about you this Friday night?" Kurt blinked. "At the Lima Bean, maybe? You probably know it, it's a coffee shop here in Lima." If Kurt hadn't been so shell-shocked by the offer, he might've sneered at the obviousness of the statement. But he was, and so he only ended up nodding faintly.

"Great." Jesse shot him a smug grin. "Then it's a date," he stated, before getting up from the piano, and walking away with a confident stride. Their audience from earlier had mysteriously gone away already, everyone having returned to their previous activities, and Kurt sat there dumbfounded.

_What have I just gotten myself into?_

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><p><strong>Well? What do you think? Don't worry, you can say it's horrible. It's my first St. Hummel fic, and my first try at both Kurt POV, and a more detailed characterization at Jesse St. James than I've written before. <strong>

**Whether or not you think it's good or bad, I'd love to hear from you in a review. It's always nice to get a little criticism or comment here and there. I don't particularly care if your review is 3 words, or 3 paragraphs. It would just be appreciated if you commented at all. (: After all, something is better than nothing.**

**If enough people liked this, then I'll continue, but if it burned your eyes to read this installment, then I'll stop. ;) Soyea. Bai for now~~**

**~WitNS, aka, Cheri Mae. **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Holy. Freakin'. Crap. The response I got for the first chapter of this was _amazing. _I'm so terribly sorry that I haven't updated in _two effin' months, _but I really didn't expect to get such fabulous feedback on this story. I mean, this was something I wrote on a whim! I didn't know you guys would actually like it! Gosh! I mean, 19 reviews, already 20 favorites, and 34 alerts? I've never gotten such good reactions to any of my other stories for just the first chapter before (Not even _The Misadventures of Facebook: Klaine Edition, _and that has a 100 reviews now!), and this was just astounding for me. I seriously love all of you. **

**Anyways, I apologize for the long author's note, and how horrible this chapter is, but I figured something was better than nothing. I hope you haven't lost interest just yet. ~ I promise I'll try to update more frequently.**

**Warnings: Boy kisses, oocness, blahblahblah. **

**I forgot something last time, too. I feel stupid and unprofessional. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. R.I.B. and FOX do. I'm simply borrowing its characters. If I did own Glee, Kurt would always be happy, and get most of the solos~**

**A/N2: I'm in need of a beta. Sorry for saying (coughtyping) that so rudely, but it's true. I'd love to have someone I can count on to look over my stories and edit them, and tell me if they suck or not, so if you're interested, just PM me, 'kay? (: OH. And over time, you'll notice that I re-upload lots of chapters. It's because I'm so in need of a beta, and I keep finding grammar errors that I must change! So don't mind them. Now. Here we go!**

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><p><strong>Chapter Two<strong>

Kurt's fingers drummed on the table, his brows furrowing with humiliation as he waited, growing more and more uneasy with each passing second.

A barista, dressed in the standard green visor and matching apron that was the Lima Bean uniform walked past, yellow-paged notepad in hand, and the glasz-eyed teen nearly stopped him to ask if he had seen the Vocal Adrenaline member who Kurt should've known _not _to trust, before realizing that he would only seem like a pitying sight. He mentally scoffed. As if he didn't already seem like one.

It was almost 8:00, and Kurt had been waiting nearly an hour.

Sighing in resignation, his cheeks flushed in embarrassment and tears gathering in the corner of his eyes, Kurt stood up to leave. He picked up his Marc Jacobs jacket (Fall collection, 2009) from the back of his chair, and started to shrug himself into it, but flinched tensely as a hand suddenly landed on his shoulder. He whirled around, and felt his breath catch as he stared into familiar ocean blue depths.

"Jesse," he breathed.

Jesse St. James wore that same arrogant smirk he had had back in the music library, and he had his hands stuffed in the pockets of his coat (designer brand as well, which Kurt very much approved of). The Vocal Adrenaline member tilted his head slightly at the countertenor's near-speechlessness, before speaking smoothly.

"I'm sorry I've kept you waiting, especially after I forgot to tell you what time we should meet up anyway, but I wish you would stay. After all, I'd love to get to know you a little better," Jesse said persuasively, his eyes suddenly filling with a warmth the sophomore hadn't been aware a soulless automaton from Carmel High was even _capable _of.

Kurt felt himself melt instantly, before he forced his bitchy façade to come up once again, trying to hide how he was falling so easily for the other male's charms.

"I don't know," he replied cooly, crossing his arms over his chest. "Why should I stay? For all I know, you could just be deceiving me into thinking that you're actually interested in me in order to get some information about the New Directions that you'll use against us before Regionals comes."

Jesse paused for a moment after Kurt finished ranting, looking contemplative as he thought silently. Kurt hoped that didn't mean that what he had just said was Club gave enough drama to last him for eternity, he didn't need any more cases of heartbreak in his life. His worries were somewhat quelled by the taller boy's next words.

"You don't have to stay; I'm not going to force you to, and I'm not using you for anything like that. Don't you think if I did, I'd go flirt with that girl who sings the lead in your show choir?" Jesse raised an eyebrow as he spoke, adding in the last part teasingly, which Kurt almost gaped at, incredulous at his basically _admission _of hitting on the countertenor before catching himself.

"Uh, that girl is named Rachel Berry, our annoying, but admittedly talented female lead, and we call it Glee Club, not show choir. Show choir just makes it sound as though our lives revolve around it, much like how Vocal Adrenaline's lives probably do," Kurt hesitantly said this, though his voice grew more confident and biting with every word that came out of his mouth.

Jesse chuckled in amusement, the husky sound of it throwing Kurt off-guard, and his eyes glazed over for a split-second before he thought to regain his composure.

"Well, you are definitely more talented than she is and could ever be. The number she did at your Sectionals lacked the passion Barbra Streisand had in Funny Girl, which is why I'm not very impressed by her. She has the pipes, but she completely lacks the emotion that's required in a singer," the curly-haired male winked at him after saying this, causing Kurt to feel heat rush into his face. It wasn't as though what Jesse said wasn't true. Rachel was amazing, but as much as she tried to, and oh Gaga, how she tried to be passionate, only to end up making constipated faces, she couldn't get any emotion through to her audience without them wanting to strangle her.

"And despite popular belief, my life doesn't revolve around show choir. There are more important things, you know, as hard as it might be to believe," Jesse finished in between a light laugh that Kurt was mesmerized by.

"Oh really? Like what?" Kurt questioned cautiously, still doubtful of the fact that maybe everything he had assumed about Carmel High students—well, prep school kids that were likely to be snobby and rich— had been entirely incorrect.

Jesse seemed to be thinking his answer over, leading Kurt to start feeling smug, believing that the older boy's previous mini-speech had only been an empty statement. Then the silence was broken, and Kurt was shocked into incoherence once more.

"Hmm...well, family for started. Friends..." Kurt looked at him disbelievingly, and Jesse quickly corrected himself. "Well, friends as in people you can actually trust, not like those who just act like buddy-buddy because of some ulterior motive," he actually sounded _sincere, _and yet again, Kurt was at a loss for words. That seemed to be happening a lot lately.

"And...love..." Was it just Kurt's imagination, or had Jesse stared directly at him when he said that? Either way, he still felt unreasonably flustered, fidgeting in his stance.

"After all, you know what they say. A life without love is no life at all," Jesse told him, smiling softly as he leaned forward slightly, as though telling him a secret. Kurt raised an eyebrow in response, only marginally impressed.

"Quoting 'Ever After'?" he asked, having recognized the line from the 1998 Drew Barrymore movie. "I admit, I'm a bit impressed...but you're gonna have to do a lot more to leave some sort of a good impression on me," Kurt stated bluntly.

Jesse smirked for the first time since the beginning of their little meeting.

"Well, we'd better take a seat, then, since I have a feeling that it's going to take quite a while," he said, amused. Kurt narrowed his eyes at what he perceived to be a jab at him, but the teasing glint in those ocean blue orbs let him know that Jesse was only joking lightly.

Slowly settling back into his seat, Kurt didn't even bother to remove his jacket, what with the chill in the coffee shop anyways. Jesse did the same across from him, though he took off his own coat, draping it across the back of his chair.

"So...tell me, why is it that you have such an amazing voice, but you still didn't get a solo at your competition?" Jesse asked him, flattering Kurt at the same time. Kurt refused to acknowledge the permanent blush in his cheeks, though obviously Jesse wasn't doing the same, only purposefully fueling the fire. "That male lead of yours was far inferior to you, like I've said that Rachel girl is, too. His voice was terrible, and when he danced, he looked like a zombie who had to poop."

Kurt knew he should have probably felt offended for Finn, what with him being his almost-stepbrother (which was strange to say, well, _think_), and desperate crush, which was the awkward part, but even he couldn't deny that the tall teen's voice was rather rough around the edges, and Jesse's last statement was too hilarious _not_to laugh at.

And so he did. Kurt laughed loudly, wiping away tears of mirth from his glasz eyes as he calmed down, knowing that others were shooting him odd looks (then again, since when had they ever _not _done so).

When he looked up again, he found Jesse gazing at him intently, an unreadable emotion flickering on his face. Kurt shifted uncomfortably under his stare, clearing his throat lightly as he calmed himself.

"I apologize for my little...erm, outburst," he told the Vocal Adrenaline member, fidgeting slightly.

"No, no, there's nothing to apologize for, your laugh's nice to hear," Jesse said, a seemingly genuine smile on his face. Kurt cautiously gave him a small smile back, unable to help it. No one had ever complimented him before, not even _Mercedes, _who had had a crush on him once, for the love of Jacobs. Now that someone had, it was too hard to refrain from giving a positive reaction.

Jesse's smile grew wider at the sight of Kurt's lips curving upward, and he kept speaking. "'Specially since I get the feeling that you don't do it very often," he confessed knowingly, hand reaching out to hold one of the countertenor's. But Kurt moved his back before Jesse could touch him, clearing his throat hoarsely. The older male frowned slightly, but otherwise said nothing about the movement.

"Really?" Kurt responded, instantly cursing himself for the way his voice grew higher. It wasn't too noticeable, but he doubted that Jesse missed it. Looking at the other's furrowed eyebrows, Kurt decided that he probably hadn't. "What makes you think that?"

"Well..." Jesse started, deliberately slowing his words. "You have frown lines on your face, not obvious enough for someone who doesn't pay close enough attention, but enough that a person who does can see them," Kurt self-consciously ran a hand over the expanse of his face at this, not having noticed those lines before, "and from what I saw the day we met, you keep up some sort of front, one that makes you seem like some kind of ice queen, which I know you aren't, just so that you're not vulnerable to people, like the way you feel."

Kurt was speechless. It was like Jesse had picked through his brain, and took out all of his deprecating thoughts, as well as those thoughts of how to protect himself, and just put them together in a thorough observation.

"How the hell would you know any of that?" Kurt demanded, bitchiness evident in his scowl as a defense mechanism he had had since freshmen year. "What are you, some sort of stalker?" Disbelief was laced in his tone.

"No," Jesse shook his head with a soft chuckle. "I'm just observant."

"Whatever you are, you're wrong. You don't know _anything _about me."

"Well, I know that you're an amazing singer, and that you can play the piano like an expert," Jesse offered.

"Even so, you've barely scratched the surface," Kurt retorted, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Then why don't you let me really know you?" He moved closer to the younger boy, cocking his head. "Let me know the mystery that is the fabulous Kurt Hummel," Kurt barked out an incredulous laugh at the adjective that was placed before his name, seeing Jesse's eyes subtly grow warm and almost _smoldering_ at the sound.

Torn for a moment, Kurt opened and closed his mouth, breathing out exhalations that were barely monosyllables, before relenting with a resigned sigh.

"What do you want to know?"

Jesse's answering grin nearly lit up the room.

"Anything," he whispered softly. "Everything." Kurt could have said some sort of piercing remark about the cheesiness of the statement, but he didn't. He only parted his lips, and began to talk completely and utter nonsense about himself.

* * *

><p>"Wait, wait," Jesse interrupted in between a fit of laughter, wiping tears from his eyes. "You performed <em>Push It <em>at your school? While simultaneously pretty much acting out sex positions and grinding against each other, in front of _everybody?"_

"Mhmm," Kurt hummed in affirmation, a wide grin on his own lips. His eyes were bright with mischief. Their food was now long gone, the two of them only sitting with glasses of water at their table as they delved into conversation. "I was even wearing a fanny pack." The admission made Jesse release another peal of chuckles, his body shaking from the force of his amusement.

"I can't believe none of you got suspended for that. Hell, _arrested_, even. Isn't public pornography illegal?" he teased, smile showing off his not-so perfect teeth, which were crooked, despite their white color. But Kurt only found it endearing, especially since his own were the same. Well, more baby teeth-like than crooked, but it was basically the same situation.

"I think Principal Figgins enjoyed it so much, that he just couldn't bear to punish any of us, as much as Sue wanted to, or at least, that's what the gist of what Mr. Schuester told us, anyways," Kurt said, chuckling.

"But, enough of my school life, and life in general, why don't we talk about you? You keep saying that you want to know about me, but all I know about you is that: 1.) You're a senior at Carmel. 2.) You're the lead of Vocal Adrenaline, which is the whole reason why I'm so skeptical about your motives, and 3.) You're on a date with me for some odd reason," the countertenor persuaded, leaning his head on the palm of his hand. Jesse's smile faltered for a second, but it was back again as quickly as it moved.

"Hmm, well, my favorite color is forest green, I'm turning 18 on March 3rd, I'm planning to go to UCLA—that's in Los Angeles— in the fall once I graduate, and my current obsession is A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens," Jesse's gaze went to the ceiling as he spouted off the random facts, before flickering down and catching Kurt's grimace at the mention of the author.

"What, not a big fan of the book?" Jesse asked, tilting his head in question.

"Not a big fan of Charles Dickens in general, I guess," Kurt said, shrugging. "As much of a classic he is, which I'm willing to acknowledge, his books can get tiring to read for those who aren't really too interested in old-fashioned literature. His writing is amazing, but I'm just not too interested in what he writes _about._"

"Nice to meet someone who has a reasonable opinion, most people would have said that his novels were boring, and leave it at that," Jesse was clearly both surprised, and intrigued, and Kurt lapped up the attention.

"Well, I'm not really 'most people', now am I?" Kurt asked rhetorically, smirking in a similar fashion as Jesse periodically did.

"No, you most certainly are not, Kurt," the senior agreed, moving his head in assertion. "You're really like nobody I've ever met before." The porcelain-skinned teen flushed pink, ducking his head shyly, despite his mind screaming at him to stop acting like such a lovesick schoolgirl.

"I'd say the same, but you really haven't told me much about you," Kurt shot back, before biting his lip at his bluntness. Jesse opened his mouth to reply, but a new voice kept him from speaking.

"Excuse me, sirs? It's almost 10:00, and we're about to close up the restaurant now," an elderly waitress told them, a polite smile on her wrinkled mouth, gray hair tied up into a tight bun. She placed their bill down onto the table as Kurt looked at the clock in shock, hardly able to believe that the time had passed by so quickly.

Jesse slipped out a shiny, platinum credit card, slipping it into the fold of the leather folder that held their receipt.

"Don't worry, we'll be out of your hair in no time," he responded smoothly, a charming smile on his face. The woman's tired eyes warmed with appreciation, and she tucked the bill away, before walking over to the register.

"You didn't have to pay," Kurt spluttered, looking embarrassed as he moved to gather up his things.

"I'm the one who asked you out, of course I did."

"Well, can I at least pay for next time?" the sophomore asked him after he put his jacket on.

"Sure," Jesse said smirking devilishly. "After all, that means that there's going to be a next time, so, gladly."

Kurt immediately blushed a bright red. The waitress came back with Jesse's credit card, and the Vocal Adrenaline member filed it away into his wallet, before holding his arm out like a gentleman, and nodding toward the door.

"Let me walk you home?"

It only took Kurt's hand stretching out gingerly onto Jesse's forearm for them to start heading the door.

On the way back to Kurt's house, the shorter of the two had trouble keeping off the enormous grin on his face the entire walk.

* * *

><p>Jesse shoved his hands into his pockets as Kurt leaned against his front door, the porch lights turned on as the older male stood in front of him, smiling gently.<p>

"So I'll see you soon, right?" Kurt nodded weakly, still dazed from everything that had happened that night.

"Well, here, give me your phone," Jesse said, reaching his hand out expectantly, and when Kurt followed his order, taking his phone out of his jacket pocket, he took a short moment to fiddle with it, before handing it back. "There. Now you have my number. Call me sometime?" Kurt glanced down at his phone, eyes widening at the brand new contact (_Jesse St. James, with a damn **heart **after it)_, then nodded weakly.

"Great," Jesse gave him an almost blinding grin, before leaning forward and pressing his lips light to Kurt's. The countertenor didn't even have the time to process this and start kissing back, until Jesse was already moving away. "Good night, Kurt."

Kurt blinked owlishly at the senior's retreating figure. Finally realizing that he just had his _first date, _and his _first kiss, _Kurt's jaw dropped.

"Wow," he mouthed. Opening the door, Kurt went inside his house, ignoring his dad's questions of _Who was that? _and the incredulously said _Kurt Elijah Hummel, did you just go on a **date**?. _

He plopped onto his bed once he got into his room, even though he was sure his dad was still hovering near the door at the top of the staircase of the basement, pacing back and forth, ready to barge in and ask for answers. Right now, he was too caught up in his thoughts of Jesse, wondering how his life got turned upside down so fast.

Kurt took his phone out of his pocket, and texted Jesse a quick message, not expecting to get a reply.

_maybe our second date can be next friday, same place, same time? x Kurt_

He chewed on his lower lip as he sent the text, wondering if the 'x' was too much, before jumping in surprise as his phone signaled a new reply from _Jesse St. James. _

_definitely. i can't wait to see you there, beautiful. (: xxx Jesse_

Caught between obsessing over the fact that Jesse had just called him beautiful, and the fact that the tag had _three x's in it, _Kurt didn't even notice that he hadn't thought of Finn Hudson at all that night.

Maybe Jesse wasn't such a bad person to think about, after all. Maybe he was exactly what Kurt needed. Either way, the glasz-eyed teen bit back a large grin as he laid down on his bed, placing his phone onto the bedside table to his left.

Just one week until he saw Jesse again. One more week until he felt as giddy as he did now.

...

_So _worth it.

* * *

><p><strong>Oh my god, I am so sorry for this horrible chapter. I'm hoping the next one (which should be posted either tomorrow or Monday) will make up for the sickening fluff that my muse told me to write. )': I just wanted Kurt and Jesse to get to know each other first. STAY WITH ME. DUN LEAVE ME. You can review if you'd like, I don't care if it's flames, or praises, I'd just be happy to have some feedback, especially after the amazing response I already got for this. You guys are just wonderful. It's people like you who keep me alive and happy. (:<strong>

**Hugs and butterfly kisses,**

**WishesintheNightSky. **


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